A/N: I've had this sitting on my computer for months and I've finally completed it. Hope you all enjoy it. :D
Oliver woke from his dreamless sleep, a luxury that he had long ago forgotten. He squinted at the sunlight streaming in from the window. He was surprised that he had not woken up with the sun as his years on Lian Yu had trained him to do. Rolling over, he frowned at the empty space beside him.
He followed the tell-tale sound of tapping on a keyboard and was greeted with the familiar sight of his girlfriend coding her way through a multitude of screens that he didn't understand. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and, though her eyes looked tired, they didn't waver from the screen. His heart jumped at the sight. It reminded him of the late nights they had spent in the foundry; her sifting through intel as he trained. This is where they were most at home, most at peace.
His mind wandered to the ring that was safely hidden in his sock drawer as he considered forgetting all that he had planned for the night and proposing right then and there.
Instead he got up and settled for placing kisses on her cheek as he ran his hands up and down her arms.
"Have you been up all night?" he asked her, concerned by the spots under her eyes.
"Uh huh," she replied. She didn't want to lose focus, but she turned her head to face his to deliver a quick good morning kiss before returning to her work.
He cursed the brevity of the kiss, wishing she wasn't so distracted.
"I'll make you a cup of coffee," he told her, catching the smirk that she now sported. Felicity vowed that she would never make him coffee ever again because she was neither his assistant nor did he have the fate of a city on his shoulders. In fact she insisted that he should make her coffee because he owed her for the year she was forced to be is executive assistant.
He placed the cup of coffee on her desk, knowing she wouldn't drink any of it until she was done.
Instead he occupied himself with making breakfast. In the past year he found that he really enjoyed cooking, something that had surprised both himself and Felicity. Growing up, Raisa had always cooked for him and after the Queen's Gambit had sunk, cooking had only been about survival. He liked that he could create something that could bring someone joy, a great transformation from the destruction that he had brought for the past eight years.
It was the simple things that he now loved.
The normal things.
The vanilla things.
Vanilla is underrated.
He deposited the food onto a single plate and moved to sit beside the beautiful blonde. The soothing sound of the keyboard relaxed him as he alternated between feeding himself and his girlfriend. He chuckled to himself as she moaned at every bite and mumbled something about him quitting his job and becoming her personal chef.
These were the moments that he cherished. The silence. The togetherness. The peace.
Eventually the clock showed that he needed to leave for work. Reluctantly he removed himself from the warmth of her presence and got ready for work. He had taken a job in construction. Simple and menial had been his mantra in starting this new life.
Ready to leave, he kissed her goodbye, but was stopped by her voice before he could reach the door.
"Can we visit Thea tonight?" she asked.
"We have a date tonight." One that he definitely didn't want to postpone.
"I know," she stated, "but we can have a date any night. We can't visit Thea any night…well technically we can visit her any night, but she'll be busy with Verdant and red arrowy stuff. Plus, we both have the day off tomorrow, so we can stay the night."
"Then, why don't we visit her tomorrow?"
"Because if we go tonight we can spend more time with everyone," she said, "But if we go tomorrow, we'll just be in and out quickly." He smirked as she blushed at her words.
He put his toolbox down by the door, knowing the reason for her persistence. "Felicity," he pronounced every syllable carefully, "I'm retired." He watched her face fall and he sighed. "Why do you want to go?"
She moved back to her computer and with the tapping of a few key she brought up some schematics.
He frowned. "This is what you were working on all night?"
"Hey, Team Arrow-"
"Stop calling it that."
"-may have been able to replace you, but they couldn't replace me," she informed him. "Plus, I don't always have to be in Starling City to help them." She directed his attention back to her screen. "Dig's looking for a shipment a weapons and I just found out that they have a lot more than he originally thought."
Oliver scanned the page. From what he could tell this group had taken what appeared to be an array of modified sentry guns, bombs and other tech that he didn't recognise. "Most of this stuff is controlled remotely," she told him, "and it'll be easier for me to hack into their systems in Starling."
"You want to go now," he surmised.
She nodded simply.
"Okay," he relented, mainly because he knew that eventually she'd convince him to allow her to go, but also because he knew that Felicity was the best person to keep everyone in Starling City safe. "But you're staying in the lair and I'll be in Starling after work." He pulled her in for a kiss, showing her all he wanted to say. "Be safe."
"I promise."
Oliver sped down the coast back to his home town. He was eager to get down to Starling City. He arrived at their new lair and punched in the code to the door.
"Felicity?" His voice echoed throughout the room. When he didn't receive a response, he yelled again, searching the entire facility.
All he found was an empty chair and a computer screens that depicted the operation.
He retrieved an earpiece and tuned into their frequency. "You said you were going to stay in the lair," he scolded.
"No, you said that," she replied when she recovered from the shock of hearing his voice. "I only promised to be safe."
"Fine," he said, clenching his jaw. "I'm coming out there to help, then."
"You won't make it in time, Oliver," she countered, "and besides, you don't even have a disguise."
"Felicity," he argued with his lips pressed tight.
"Guys," Thea interrupted, "can you have this argument later. I would like to make it past this sentry gun without any bullet holes."
He settled for watching everything play out on the screens in front of him.
He had never appreciated how tough it was for Felicity to sit in the foundry while everyone else was out in the field. He had spent all day concerned about what Felicity was getting up to.
He took a seat in Felicity's chair, scanning the set up for the correct button. Straining to recall the limited computer skills that he had used before Felicity. It also didn't help that Felicity had upgraded the system and the interface was so foreign to him.
"Just hit F4, Oliver," Felicity's voice startled him over the intercom. "I've already hacked the cameras for you." He chuckled as he did as she instructed and the screens filled with all the security footage of the compound.
He instinctively scanned the footage looking for the guards and possible entry points and potential problems.
"Why are you all still outside?" he asked, catching all of the team members on the exterior cameras.
"They're waiting for your signal," Felicity replied, "I've disabled all the exterior systems and I need you to lead them through."
"You planned this," he stated accusingly.
"The door to the vault requires a key card at each of the three junctions at the same time," she informed him, "and I require your tactical knowledge to get everyone in without alerting the guards."
"Fine," he agreed begrudgingly, "but we're having a talk about what the word 'retired' means when you get back."
He guided Thea, Dig and Laurel through the compound seamlessly while Felicity disabled any weapons in their way. They worked together so perfectly. He did miss this. It had been quite a while since he had used his mind in this way and he fit right back into the mould so beautifully.
"Great work, Team Arrow."
"Stop calling it that," he admonished, ignoring the chuckles of the other members of the conversation.
"Just connect the wireless modem and I'll upload the virus."
As they waited, Oliver scanned the cameras and found them as safe extraction route. He sighed in relief as Felicity called Captain Lance and the team were on their way back to the lair.
He paced the lair, waiting for everyone to return. It was so different to the one that was underneath Verdant. It was much brighter and he could see the individuality of each person, without anything that revealed their identity. There were the different weapons that each person used. From the bow to the bow staff to the glock.
There was also the remnants of old missions of the new team. Some of the stuff the recognised from the news and others he was here to witness whenever Felicity decided that they should come back and help.
As much as he hated that his loved ones were in danger on a nightly basis and as much as he hated that he had started this movement, he was proud of them and the legacy that they had carried on.
He heard the beeping of the door being unlocked and he schooled his features into a stern look and stood stoic with his hands on his hips. He had enjoyed his foray into the past, but he wasn't going to let Felicity know that, especially since she had broken such an important date.
She smiled widely as she walked in and he almost broke into one himself at the sight. She strode right up to him and leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek. "You don't fool me, Oliver," she whispered and he faltered, breaking into a grin as he watched her saunter toward the computers.
"You're so whipped, Ollie," his sister teased as she hugged him.
He greeted the rest of the team and caught up with everyone as they went about their post-mission routine.
Thea and Laurel and Diggle were discussing the mission as they put their weapons away and Felicity was typing away to remove any evidence of the team in the area tonight. Oliver joined their debrief and it soon turned into a light sparring session with the soothing tapping of keys in the background.
After Oliver demonstrated a few moves them, Thea and Laurel were now on the mat trying to emulate it as best as possible as Dig watched on, giving pointers on their technique.
With the other members busy, Oliver made his way to Felicity, pulling a chair over the sit next to her. The mere proximity causing him to calm and his heart to flutter. He sat back in the chair alternating between watching Felicity and all the other people that were important in his life.
"Marry me," he said, silencing the room and causing all heads to turn toward him.
Felicity turned sharply in her chair, "what?" she asked.
"Marry me," he repeated.
"Now? You're now asking me." she shook her head, "I mean you're asking me now. Here?"
He let out a laugh. "Well we did have a date tonight," he reminded her. "But here we are in front of the most important people in our life," he continued, looking around the room at the stunned faces watching them, "and doing the things that made us fall in love with each other in the first place. And I knew there wouldn't be a better time or place to do this." He took her hands in his own and he knelt down on one knee before her at her station of computers and pulled a diamond ring from his pocket. "Felicity Smoak, will you marry me?"
"Yes," she grinned, bending down to kiss him. "Yes. Yes. Yes."